Monsters
by Jahdhen
Summary: Wammy's orphanage, during the time of its original students. And a new boy called Light Yagami.
1. Chapter 1

_\- L -_

L watched as the rain hit the dusty glass window pane. As it fell, the dust marked the glass, leaving trails of its short journey before it fell onto the eves, and then, the earth below. L blinked his dark eyes. He was sure that he'd seen rain fallen from this window, just like this before, but this was the first time that he'd really paid attention. Something about the rain today seemed ethereal, meaningful, in a way that he couldn't really understand. Today was just like every other day. This rain was just like all the other rain that had ever fallen to the earth. And his room, in Winchester, was the same as it always was. So then, he concluded, he himself must have been the only anomaly.

Footsteps outside his room shuffled. Another anomaly, and L's gaze shifted. Although his door was closed, he stared at it. Those footfalls were Mr. Quillish's. And another he didn't recognise. Lighter. Stiff. At the brief knock on his door, L froze.

"L, there is someone I want you to meet." Mr. Quillish's voice was calm, yet somehow stern, as it always was. The closest thing L had left to a grandfather, or family.

L sucked in a breath. "You didn't tell me there was a new student." He answered, monotone in his pre-emptive and-nor-do-I-wish-to-meet-them argument which was about to follow.

Student. It was a nicer word than orphan.

"I'm afraid you have no choice." Mr. Quallish's voice continued to chime through the timber. "Seeing as he is your new roommate."

L knew that Mr. Quallish was smiling. A small, bemused smile before the boy crossed the room, and jammed open the door, glowering up at him.

"I do not have a new roommate. I'm afraid you've mistakenly assumed I would want one."

"Assumed...? No, of course I assumed you would not. That is the reason why I am assigning him as your roommate."

"Your logic makes no sense." L told him sharply. "There is an empty room across the corridor. I suppose I can put up with someone making noise from afar. That is the end of our conversation -"

"L." The way Mr, Quallish said his name made L pause. The closest thing he had to a grandfather... if he was ultimately pushed, he would obey him.

But that didn't stop L from pressing his mouth shut, and staring at him infuriatingly.

"This is Nox." Mr. Quillish said, that small bemused smile still there. Like he considered L's objection like more of a childish tantrum to be smoothed over, rather than a serious argument.

"That's not my name." Came a petulant objection. And like another smile would solve anything, Mr. Quillish turned to the boy beside him and smiled more. "It's a new name, to keep you safe."

"Whatever." The new boy jabbed flatly. "This is my room? Nice to meet you - whoever you are."

He brushed past L, like he was nothing more than an annoying piece of furniture placed in the way of the door, and sat on the bed, crossing one leg over the other, and gaze fixed on the window, on the rain, with his neat, auburn head turned.

L decided that they were already lifelong enemies. That was his bed. That was his window. That was his rain.

He swallowed.

"I reinstate," he began to object again. "I do not want a roommate. And by that I mean, I will not have one. If you don't remove him, I will -" L paused. "- go on a hunger strike."

"Oh?"

"Yes." L told him stubbornly. "After my death, you may be investigated for negligence."

"Very well." Mr. Quillish shrugged, then called out as he walked away, "Strawberry cheesecake will be served for dessert tonight."

Eyes wide, L firmly closed the door. Mr. Quillish won that round, but this was just the start of a war.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, L reluctantly turned. His room, his bed, his window...

And, an anomaly.

One given the alias of "Nox", staring still at his rain.

Shoving his hands into his pocket deeper, and his gaze heated enough to start a fire, L reluctantly introduced himself. For the sake of formality. After all, even if this was war, his parents had managed to instill in him a penchant to be polite, during the time they'd been alive.

"I am L." L said. And with that formality over, he then decided that the burden of politeness was over, and to ignore the other boys existence from here on.

"Light Yagami." The boy sitting on the bed replied.

"You're not supposed to use your real name." L reminded him, although he made a note to permanently remember the name, in case it at any time in the future became useful. Possibly as blackmail.

"What are you going to do?" Light - Nox- replied. "Is someone going to kill me with my name?"

"Hmm, that's curious..." L stated.

"What?"

Bringing his thumb to his lip, L swept it across it. "This is an orphanage for intellectually gifted children, however your shallow understanding of consequence makes me question what you're doing here."

"Ha..." it was a bitter, half-laugh that pulled at the edges of Light's mouth. He turned his head from the window. He stared at L.

"Maybe it's more that I don't care about the consequence."

"That goes against a humans natural instinct for self-preservation." L replied stiffly. "Which leaves a likely conclusion. You are depressed."

"Well done, Sherlock." Light mumbled. Although nothing in his dead, brown eyes was showing amusement. He'd actually been snatched away after one of his bi-weekly therapy appointments that had become part of his new routine after he'd lost his parents and been put into a temporary foster home. _"This man... Mr. Watari, has offered to adopt you. He has an orphanage for gifted children in England. You will be leaving tomorrow -"_

The social worker's voice was still crisp in his mind.

England? He was in England.

"Where are you from?" L asked him suddenly, like something had just sparked a curiosity.

"Japan."

"That's obvious. I meant more specifically, where."

Light's eyebrow quirked. "Tokyo."

"No."

"Eh?"

"You're not supposed to tell me that either."

"You asked me."

"You're going to answer any question that anyone ever asks you? I'll ask you again, where are you from?"

"Tokyo, Shibuya Ward." Light bit back stubbornly.

"Light Yagami from Tokyo Shibuya ward, you have broken two rules already since being here. The first is telling someone your real name, the second is telling them any personal information which may link to your identity past."

Staring at him, Light's mouth hung open.

"Huh?"

"I assume Watari has informed you of the rules?"

Watari. Mr. Quillish's alias. Quallish Wammy didn't know that L knew his name, but L had uncovered it within two weeks of meeting him. It had been difficult, even for him. The man that was like his grandfather kept everything under several locks and keys, with more locks and keys on top of it, but it hadn't been impossible -

"You mean that old man, Wammy? The one who collects smart kids for his cult-like orphanage?"

L blinked. Now his mouth hung open.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, he told me." Light replied. "Guess you better not tell anyone then. If the information gets out of this room, I'll know who leaked it."

Well. L had just lost the upper hand.

"It seems we're at a stalemate." He concluded.

"So it seems." Light agreed.

L's eyes still burned in annoyance, and Light's were dull with a general resignation to life. The rain still hit the glass, and with his own small resignation, L realised that he and Light were the same kind of anomalies, brought together by a room.

"How long you been here?" Light asked L, hesitantly, and it was the first time he'd showed any sort of vulnerability in their discussion. L noted that; keeping it in the same place he kept the frugal details of Light's name and past.

"Four years." L replied. Since his eleventh birthday. Exactly on that day. "But that won't give you any information about my past." He added on quickly. "So if you're trying to get any information, I suggest in advance you abandon obtaining it."

"I wasn't." Light sighed. "...Is it always this difficult to make conversation?"

"What do you mean?"

"The way you talk... it's like you're expecting someone is out there, trying to get you."

L frowned.

"Of course there are."

Faltering, uncertain, Light was hesitating again.

"This place..." he asked carefully. "Is it dangerous?"

"It's an orphanage for intellectually gifted children." L repeated, like that answered part of the question. "It depends on what we do."

"What do you do?" Light asked. For the first time, brief curiosity flashing in his gaze.

L shrugged.

"I catch the monsters, the ones that break the law. Anything not to be bored."

* * *

Stalemate.

While they had been eating dinner in the dining hall, Mr. Wammy had organised another bed to be brought into the bedroom. L's previous place of solitude. He glanced at it sourly. Just as sourly as he had glanced at the strawberry cheesecake which had submissed him that evening out of a hunger strike.

"How long have the others been here?" Light asked him, starting to pick things out of a suitcase which had been laid on top of the bed. The only possessions of an old life L knew all to well that would feel soon like another lifetime ago.

"The others?" He repeated.

"The guy I was talking to, A. It seemed like he'd been here for a long time."

"I don't know how long A's been here." L said, and Light wasn't sure if it was a lie. But that struck him as odd. "I only know that he arrived before me."

"Yeah, right," Light almost scoffed. "You probably know everything about everyone here."

"There's a lot that even I don't know." Came L's reply at length. "More than I care not to know."

Light unfolded a shirt. Placed it neatly on the bed.

"And that other guy-? He didn't say anything."

"That was B."

"B?"

"Hmm?"

"A and B, and L? You're all just letters?"

"...Yes. You're the first to get a name."

Light's brow furrowed. The shirt on his bed became forgotten about as he turned. "Why am I the first?"

"I would assume... Watari has seen some kind of fault in this system and is perhaps trialling a new one. For several reasons, I can see why this would be an improvement."

Brow furrowing further, Light said, "Calling people letters, is really no better than assigning someone a number. You know, that's what they do in prisons. So tell me, what kind of place is this really?"

"An orphanage for gifted children."

"No, what do they do here? What's the purpose?"

L was silent.

"Because so far," Light sat on the bed. Crossed his legs, folded his arms. Looked out with sharp eyes, from behind his neat brunette bangs. "All I've been told is that. It's an orphanage for gifted children. There are only four of us here, so that old man is careful about who he selects. A is Polish. I'm Japanese. It seems he collects kids from all over the world. I want to know why. I want to know exactly what I'm doing here."

"That's one of the other things..." L mumbled quietly, "I do not know."

The rain started hitting the window pane again. It started as a sudden downpour, obscuring the view of the stars and fog of cloud hanging, blanketing most of them.

"But now that you're here, you can choose what you do..."

"Isn't that the crux of every action?"

"...I suppose so."

"I want to know what that old man, Wammy, Watari, whatever, wants."

"I am not sure that he wants anything." L replied, tilting his head as Light began to pace. "Why do you assume that he does?"

"You think I was just taken from Japan for no reason?" Asked Light incredulously. "Given an alias? No - that old man wants something."

"Watari is an orphan himself." L disclosed carefully. "I assumed that was why he started this orphanage. As a man of intellect himself, perhaps that is why he seeks out gifted children. But whatever your posing, that there is some evil agenda behind Wammy's orphanage, I'm afraid to tell you that you're wrong."

"You said that you catch monsters?"

"Yes." Although L failed to see the relevance to the conversation.

"Then you're good at recognising one?"

"...I'd like to believe that."

"Then," Light sat back on the new bed again. Legs crossed, as always. "What am I?"

A test. It felt like a test. And honestly, L hadn't been expecting that question. And he found, to his surprise, that he actually didn't know. Reading Light was like trying to read murky water.

"Dangerous." He eventually decided on.

"...Why?"

"A person who doesn't care about consequence is always dangerous."

Surprisingly, that tugged a smile at Light's lips.

* * *

**BB.**

B had always been able to see them. The shadows with long, spindly claws that crept through the day and night. Oblivious that he could see. Monsters, he'd called them. Although he'd grown a fondness to them. He considered himself half monster, half human. Somewhere stuck as an in-between half-breed. An outsider to both.

_73641580_

The number above the new orphans head. The new orphan had caught him staring a couple of times, and B had stared back, silently as they ate their dinner at the long oak table. The new orphans number was unusually long. That was dangerous, he'd learned. The monsters often went after the ones with longer numbers.

After he finished eating, he padded down one of many of Wammy's orphanage' empty halls. There were no monsters around tonight, or if there were, they were hiding. Sometimes there were just none around, so it was nothing too unusual.

B bit at his fingernails. A bad habit he'd never shook. Often they were bloody, and no matter how many times he'd been scolded he'd never paid attention.

Pausing, B noticed something. Moving around the corner like a flicker of a shadow. But he knew better. It was a monster. A new one. A shadow he didn't recognise and he's ears pricked. These monsters rarely made a sound. But this one did. A weird crackling, like the breaking of bones. But just small ones, like the ones in your toes, your fingers.

For the first time that he could ever remember, B felt uneasy in the presence of a monster. He placed his hand, the one he'd been gnawing his fingernails on, into his denim pocket. He waited, curious and alert for the monster to pass. Leaned against the wall, and took out a note from his pocket he pretended to study so that the monster didn't notice him staring at it. But B strained his gaze as much as he could. And the shadow crackled out into the hall ahead. It towered higher than any other monster he'd ever seen. Gold chains hung from its skeletal neck, and scraped against the floor. Turning it's neck, like it was noticing B, there was more of the bone cracking sounds.

_"Meet at the usual place later?"_ The note in B's hand read. His blue eyes studied it, aware that he was still being observed. Aware that the monster was stopping for an unusual length of time. When a monster chose a victim, the most they did was usually glance at the number hovering in red above a persons head. But this one was looking at him. Staring. B stiffened, trying not to make it aware that he was aware of its presence.

"Human..." It's voice crackled, just like it's movements. It sounded like gravel, being churned. "You have no numbers..." it observed. And that was new to B. He knew that he couldn't see his numbers, but he assumed these monsters could. None of them had ever singled him out before.

He pretended not to hear, sighed. And scrunched the note in his hand.

"Human boy..." the monster continued. "Can you hear me?"

Biting back the urge to say "no", B decided to face this head on, and walk straight past it. One step, another. He knew that he could walk through it if he needed to.

"Human boy," the monster repeated again. Churning gravel voice; snapping bones. It held up a finger. "I've seen one like you before. You are cursed."

B stopped. He couldn't resist the temptation anymore.

"How am I cursed?" He breathed.

"Oh," the monster mused, crackling. "You can hear me human boy. Well then, let me tell you, humans like you are cursed to take the life of human others."

B suddenly couldn't breathe. This monster. It had to be lying.

"I'm not like you." B mumbled, jabbed. "I am a human, not a monster."

"Kyahaha." The monster screeched. "I haven't heard a joke as good as that in centuries. Human boy, I like you. I would ask you for your name but I can see it. But it's a dangerous thing you know, for one of us to like a human. So I won't come back here again. I'll leave you and your human friends be."

The monster grinned. Flesh travelling upwards revealing decayed, yellow teeth. And it walked into the wall. And B was clenching the note still, tight in his hand. His knuckles white.


	2. Chapter 2

**BB.**

"Meet at the usual place later?" A scribbled down quickly in class. He folded the note, glancing up to make sure Roger, their teacher, still had his back turned busily writing on the board. A placed the note on B's desk, and B opened it with the flick of a finger, closed it, and put it in his pocket. He signed an okay without looking A's way.

"So, in conclusion," came Roger's voice and he turned, peering over his glasses. "From this pattern of statistics, you can see that it's entirely possible a new strain of virus could develop in the near future. One that has the potential to very nearly wipe out humanity."

"It's not going to happen in this lifetime." B mumbled.

"What do you mean..." Roger thought it important for B to clarify, before clearing his throat. "How could any one of us possibly know?"

"I know." B grinned. "I do."

"That's not possible." Roger repeated. "All we can do is speculate to the best of our abilities. Now - "

What was the point in talking? B wondered. No one ever listened.

"How do you know?" Came another voice. From behind him. More demanding than Roger's. B's grin widened, and he turned, resting his arms on the back of the chair. L; long black hair covering most of his face, and eyes vacantly piercing. A skill L had mastered - that of being almost completely unreadable. But B was all too eager to answer someone who was finally listening.

"I can see when everyone dies." B smiled. A chilling smile. But to his dismay all L did was shift an eyebrow, un-amused.

"B," Roger cleared his throat again. "If that's quite enough?"

"I suppose it is." B turned back around and shrugged. "None of you will ever understand, so it's really just a waste of my time."

"What is?"

"I told you, I can see -"

"Having the ability to see when everyone dies is impossible." L's voice from behind him said. "That would suggest that everything in our lives is predetermined. The first flaw. The second being that unlike all other humans, your sight somhow enables you to see something we cannot. But humans' biology is at the essence all the same. You are limited to seeing only the same things as everyone else sees, with little variation. In other words, what's more likely is that you suffer from delusions or... you're simply wasting everyone's time."

B was silent. And then he grinned. And then he laughed.

"B," Roger's voice said sternly. "I fail to see what's so funny."

"That's why it's hilarious." B whispered. "But go on, teach. I'm all ears. I won't disturb you with my ramblings any more. After all, it's pointless."

A was looking at him. He knew that A was looking at him. So B shot him a smile.

* * *

"What was all that today?" A asked B, later that night. When they were at the usual meeting place. Up high in a tree, in a branch that was big enough to support both of them. "You can see when people die?" He asked.

And B was trying to focus. To come up with a reply. But all he could think of was that monster he'd seen on the way here, in the hall. The monster that sounded like crackling bones, with a churning gravel voice. _"Human boy,"_ it's voice echoed in B's mind. _"I've seen one like you before. You are cursed."_

Swallowing, and biting a nail, B nodded.

"When could you start seeing it?" A asked. And it took a while for B to realize what he had. And what that meant.

"You believe me?" B replied at him.

"Why would you lie about something that makes you sound crazy...?"

A's eyes. Blue just like B's, but their hue lighter and infinitely more pleasant. They were staring at B now, and B shifted. He dangled his leg off the branch. His breath froze as it hit the chilling Winchester air.

"What does mine say?" A then asked suddenly, and B felt his throat tighten. His gaze drifted up, to the red numbers hovering about A's ice blonde hair, that he hoped each day would change. But B had never seen numbers changed before, and he had almost lost all hope.

"It's above me?" A asked. "The time that I'll die?"

"Not the time." B replied quietly, welcoming the diversion of subject. "It's an algorithm - an answer to an algorithm."

"...Can you see yours?"

"Mine is the only one I can't see." And that, B discovered that night, also the monsters couldn't see too.

He really must have been half monster, half human, after all...

"I've been able to see them ever since I can remember..."

"I believe you." A told him.

"Hm?"

"I know you wouldn't lie to me."

B nodded. A small nod in agreement.

"Sometimes... when I'm around you." A admitted quietly. "It's like your eyes change... It's like you're seeing something that I can't. You're seeing something, looking at it like it... doesn't belong here."

"Here?"

"In this world."

* * *

_\- L -_

L woke up, wishing that life were a dream. Wishing that nothing had changed from the morning before, and that he was alone in his room in Winchester. With his bed, with his window. With his books.

Instead, he was faced with a glaringly obvious obstruction to his normal. In the shape of a bed. In the shape of a person on that bed. To be even more specific, a boy by the name of Light Yagami was his obstruction. Something that shouldn't have been there. Something L wished wasn't.

Yet instead of mulling mostly over it all morning, L got dressed. Washed his face. Cleaned his teeth. Then opened his laptop. He flicked through the news, searching for anything of interest only to be disappointed. Most of it was good or menial. That meant nothing interesting for him to solve, and that meant being bored. That meant that he'd make his own fun to pass the time, and when Light woke up he did to L staring at him; hovering over him like a hawk.

"Kuso!" Light yelled out, brain too startled to switch in time to English from his native tongue. "Nande - ?! Why the hell are you staring at me like that?"

"I was bored." L shrugged. "So I decided to test what was the best way to interrogate someone without waking them." He frowned. "It seems I need more practice."

"You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Really? Interesting..."

"It's not interesting! You think your creepy face is the last thing I wanna see?"

"Perhaps people, even when asleep, can sense another staring at them..." L noted absently. "You're right. A less intimidating approach would probably yield more beneficial results."

Light grabbed his pillow and screamed in it. And L's eyes widened. He hadn't seen an emotional outburst like that in years. As for the others at the orphanage - A was always silent. And B was usually laughing or smiling about something that only he ever seemed to understand. The most he'd experienced was the occasional exasperated sigh from Roger. So, needless to say, in this current situation he was feeling... confused, and uncomfortable.

Light's shoulders heaved, after he fell quiet. Rib cage shuddering.

Blinking, L wondered what was the correct thing that other people usually did now.

"Nox?" He asked hesitantly.

"That's not my damned name."

A pillow came flying at L, and he barely dodged it.

"It's Light." And Light looked at L. With defiance amalgamating with every part of his being. "I'm not a stupid animal you can just re-home and name. I refuse to be. You understand that? Don't call me that name again!"

"...Alright," L tried, an edge in his voice. "I understand that what you're going through must be difficult right now." He said in complete monotone. "What you probably need is some kind emotional support. So please know that I am willing to contact Watari at any time, if you so wish to talk."

Light stared at him.

"Do you want me to...?"

"I don't want to talk to anyone." Light replied flatly. "Leave me alone."

L felt like that could have gone better. His attempt at consolation ended up feeling like failure.

_Improve social skills,_ he noted, on his mental list of things to do.

"I can speak Japanese." L decided on saying. Diversion. Small talk. Did that work? "I taught myself last year. Hajimemashite." He said, moving his hand in a slow wave.

"It's not the first time that we met." Light deadpanned.

"Yes. It was an attempt to start again."

"Hajimemashite." L tried again. Then instead put out his hand, as if he were hoping or expecting Light to shake it.

"Your accent's wrong." Light jabbed back.

_Rude._ Thought L.

"I learned from a book. Then, teach me how to say it."

"Hajimemashite." Said Light flatly.

L copied him back just as flat.

* * *

**BB.**

_7__3641580_

B watched as the numbers floated into the room. As the person the numbers belonged to sat, crossed his legs, and rested his chin on his hand impatiently.

Japanese. His name was spelled out in kanji B hadn't figured out the exact pronunciation of. Moon... Gami? Moon God? He bit at his nail. What a curious name.

Moon Gami looked at him. B bit at his nail again, and stared. He liked to make people feel uncomfortable and it was a surprisingly easy thing to do. As easy as flashing an unprovoked smile.

But the new orphan, Moon Gami, simply just moved his gaze away, unaffected, and that made B frown.

"We have a new student today." Roger said, as if he noticed B's failed attempt. "Please welcome, Nox."

_Nox. _

The latin word for night.

B heard Moon Gami scoff quietly, and B decided to get to the bottom of this and achieve just what he was determined to do in the first place.

He wrote the kanji for the new boy's name down on the corner of his book page, and silently tore it off. Folded it. Then wrote a question on the outside.

_How do you say your name?_

He put it on Moon Gami's desk, the next opportunity he received and he watched the new boy's face with interest as he opened it and his expression shifted. That. That was what B wanted to see. Unease.

And Moon Gami wrote something down quickly and passed it back.

_How do you know my name?_

B smiled.

_I can see it. It's above your head._

Moon Gami stared at him

Tsuki Gami... Tsuki Yagami? Yagami.

B scribbled down the guess onto another piece of paper and held it up, grinning.

Yagami's brows furrowed and he quickly reached across the gap between them, to snap the sheet of paper down.

"Nox?" came Roger's voice. Yagami's hand had slammed the piece of paper down, and now everyone was staring at him.

Gaze travelling to B's hand, Roger asked him, "Notes, B? Again?"

"It was just a welcome note." B said, smiling at him. "Sorry sir, wont happen again."

Like Roger knew better, and he probably did, he gave a usual small sigh of exasperation.


	3. Chapter 3

**BB.**

Moon Gami.

He had an unusual life span. B was 99% sure that he'd been correct in his theory about the algorithm of life and death; the numbers hovering above people's heads. But, if he'd been correct, then...

Light should have died forty-two days ago.

B'd pulled up Moon Gami's information surprisingly easy. His name, B had discovered after translating the kanji online various times and seeing what results it pulled, was Light Yagami.

But B liked the nickname Moon Gami, night god, so he stuck with it. It seemed mocking in its own way.

Moon Gami was born on February 28, 1995 and was the son of a Japanese National police Chief, Soichiro Yagami. Moon Gami had helped his father solve a crime involving money laundering, and that had landed him with a photograph and his information being published in The Japan Times.

The article would probably disappear in the next few weeks, though. Watari would see to that. So B saved the article to a hard drive.

And then, B sat. He stared at nothing in particular, and bit at his nails.

Had he been wrong?

Was his algorithm wrong?

* * *

_\- L -_

Light had spent most of their time after classes with his arms folded, sitting on the bed, with an irritated look.

Something about B and notes or other that L didn't really care to know more about.

L was busy, with a pile of books he'd taken from the library on criminal psychology. Mr Quilish was always adding more to the collection, on L's request.

He was just contemplating a particular line that stood out:

_Let us consider that we are all insane. Only in recognizing it in ourselves, can we understand it in others._

After a while of being lost in thought, L heard the door click. He glanced at Light's bed, confirming that he was gone.

Attention returning to the book, L found that now he couldn't concentrate. It was like the energy in the room had shifted now that Light wasn't there and it was unsettling.

Odd. L noted. He never had this problem before. He always used to read alone.

Now that his attention was taken away from the book, wasn't there also something else that he'd forgotten about?

Ah - yes.

Improve social skills.

L frowned, realizing that he'd forgotten.

He was failing at this having manners thing, and being what was considered "normal". And being normal was a valuable skill, it seemed to often let you have much more power than being "abnormal". So, L needed to master it to use in such circumstances of needing more power - he would be able to use it.

L put the book down, walked across the room, cracked open the door.

Putting his eye up the the crack, he peeped down the hall. If he'd gone that way, Light was already out of sight.

Then, where would Light be?

L decided to make it a game. He'd give himself three chances to deduce where Light was. If he failed, then he'd have to muster all self control to skip the next dessert served at dinner as self inflicted punishment.

His first guess was incorrect. L frowned. Light hadn't gone down the stairs, following the sound of the fire crackling in the empty room (except for a single emerald velvet couch) which functioned as a dance hall by its previous owners, below. L listened to the fire crackling for a few moments. He watched as it's flames curled and burned greedily through its wooden fuel.

Second guess...

Of course. Light was a loner just like him. He was probably a popular and confident guy before. His looks, his attitude, practically screamed it. But L knew another loner when he saw one. Someone who he defined as always being alone, even when they were surrounded by other people. Just like himself, they detached, and lived in their own world. The real world was just a swirling mess of noise and colors and voices and good deeds and atrocities that seemed to happen around them.

Anomalies.

Anomalies in the normal world.

That's what he and Light, and A and B, and maybe even Mr Quallish all were.

And none of them would have been drawn to come down the stairs, to the noise of the fire. None of them would have risked an encounter with the others they didn't want. And few things draw people together better than warmth and a fire and comfort. That's why the fire crackled night after night, in a room that was always empty.

No, what often drew people like them was what was always out of reach and impossible to understand. A place where contemplation could be had alone.

Light had gone up. Light had gone as high as he could. Which meant that if L was correct, he also had to go up. As high as he could...

* * *

**. A .**

There was a story A's grandmother always used to tell him before going to sleep. He'd lived with his grandparents ever since he could remember, at least before his time at Wammy's orphanage, and had no memory of his parents whatsoever.

In the story, there was a demon called Likho. The demon carried all the human sadness, corruption, and disease in the world. She carried all this burden, and it was so heavy that she searched everywhere in the world that she could, to find happiness. But she never found it, and so she learned to get happiness from inflicting all of her burden onto humans, and watching them suffer as she suffered. The only way that people could make the demon Likho go away, was to find happiness in all the sadness she unleashed onto them.

And that story, even though it was just a story, had been told to A so many times that it became as real as anything else. The lines had always blurred for A, between real and not real. He'd often have dreams that felt realer than anything experienced when he was awake. Such vivid dreams, that made waking felt like dreaming and he'd found himself confused. One of the few things that grounded him was B. B was real, and that, A knew.

B was his anchor.

A placed the last card down onto the tall tower that he made. He anticipated that it would fall, it always did on the last one, but he still held his breath hoping that it wouldn't.

The tower fell. It all fell and folded in a matter of seconds. The last card, the king of spades, fluttered to the ground.

And then, the ground shook, and A waited for the next thing to happen. A cat, pure white, with horrible yellow glowing eyes appeared and hissed at him from the corner of the room and it told him silently to run.

A ran. Down the stairs. Through the halls. Through the building that was shifting and turning and disappearing and folding into itself.

The floor fell from under him.

A yelled.

"Hey- "

A gasped. Someone was shaking him.

"It's just me."

B. It was B. B was sitting on the floor, beside his bed, shaking him.

A said something quietly in Polish. B knew enough Polish by now to know that he was quietly cursing God.

B took his hand away.

Stared at him in the dark.

"What do you want?" A mumbled at him. Although this question was usually intended rudely, it was just A's blunt way of speaking. It had probably rubbed off from his grandmother.

"I need you to help me with something." B said. A stared at his dark blue eyes. Muddy blue. There were small flecks of brown and grey.

"What...?"

"A math problem."

A rubbed his eyes, and for a brief moment, he thought that he saw the white cat with yellow eyes staring at him from the corner of the room.

"But you usually score higher in math than me - " He reminded B.

"I need another perspective."

The hair on A's arm prickled. Something was staring at him, in the dark. Was it the cat? He could feel it. But he ignored it.

"Because if I was wrong, then maybe there's some chance..." B cut himself off, biting at his index nail before he could finish the sentence.

"Some chance what?" Asked A. He put his head back down on the pillow. He put the covers over himself so that all he had was a hole where he could see his friend. He didn't want to see anything else. Not right now.

B's face was worrying him. B's face was serious, it looked as if thoughts were running through his head quicker than he could even hold them.

B suddenly snapped out of it and caught A's gaze. And then, he forced a smile. It cracked across his face. It didn't belong.

"Don't do that." A told him.

Hesitantly, B faltered. His cracked smile disappeared and turned into an expression so solemn A could hardly stand it.

"Don't do that, either."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Tell me what's going on."

"I can't. Not everything."

"Then tell me what you can tell me."

The room was silent as B pondered.

"It's about the numbers..."

"Numbers... the ones that you see... above people's heads?"

"Yes."

"You can't figure out the algorithm?"

"I thought I had." Tilting his head to the side, B rested it on his knee. "But now I think that it must have been wrong."

"Why?"

"That's one of the things that I can't tell you."

There was something that annoyed A about that statement. They always told each other everything. There were never any secrets kept between them. Not outside of who they used to be before, at least. Before coming to the orphanage. But that didn't matter. The person A had been before the last of his family died was practically dead, too. His past might as well have now been another life, one that he no longer had any connection to. At least, not outside of his grandmother's stories.

"You're annoyed." B told him.

"I don't know what this is." A replied flatly. "Is it annoyed? I guess you have your reasons for not telling me."

A's accent always reverted thicker when he was tired or more emotional than usual. His lips had frowned into a pout, and his snow blonde hair suddenly fell into his eyes. He brushed it away roughly.

It just fell into the same place again.

Giving up, A decided to just pull the covers completely over his face.

"B..."

"Mm?"

"Is there something in the room?"

"You mean, out of the ordinary?"

"In the corner."

"There's nothing."

"I feel like something's watching me."

There was a pause, and then B reminded him, "You really should tell Watari about this."

"I know what he's going to say." Mumbled A. "He's going to say I'm crazy. He might even kick me out of the orphanage. This is an orphanage for gifted children, B. You think he'd let me stay once I tell him? I know they're not there. I know these things aren't. I know it. But they're still there. They're not real like the numbers you see. I can deal with it. I just need you to help me."

Sighing, he could feel B looking at him, covered in blanket, in the dark.

The truth was, A couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk being forced out of Wammy's. He didn't know if he could live on the outside anymore. He didn't know if he could live with a normal adopted family or at an orphanage full of normal people.

* * *

_\- L -_

Perhaps L had overestimated himself.

Light wasn't anywhere on the upper floors. He stared across the large balcony, the glass doors closed behind him. It was raining again. Pattering. _His rain._ It seemed to follow him like a shadow, everywhere he went.

There were no stars visible in the sky. The night itself had disappeared in its own expanse of darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note: chapter four! thank you for reading so far, as well as your reviews and follows :) I updated much quicker than last time because I know that it took quite a while before new chapters, before. Hope everyone is well and staying safe from covid!_

* * *

_\+ Light +_

Light's heart pounded as he ran. He ran through the overgrown garden of Wammy's house, a garden that seemed to go on forever, until he thought he couldn't run any longer, and then ran more.

Eventually, he came out the other side. And when he did, he placed his hands on his knees. Caught his breath. To be alive, it meant feeling like this. It meant feeling the air sting as he filled his throat, and lungs, with oxygen. It meant feeling so confused that you no longer know what to do, so you run. You run as much as you can. You scream, you shout. You pray to a god that isn't listening, and then...

You crumble.

Light Yagami was crumbling.

He'd witnessed his parents death mere months ago. His younger sister's.

And now, here he was.

Where here, was?

England.

He was in England.

Where he had a strange orphanage roommate, called L. An even stranger peer who claimed that he could see his real name. And L said, also when someone would die.

If that was somehow true, that was a problem.

Light didn't still understand the point of anonymity on top of that, not yet. But he was scared.

Since the day of his family's deaths, his world had come crashing down. He'd been caught up in the humdrum, caught up in the bored, the socializing for the sake of socializing, the study, the study, the study...

Grade A student. Light Yagami, he'd been top of his class. Hell, he'd even helped his father, a national police chief, solve three separate crimes and proved himself more valuable at 17 years of age individually, than whole trained and experienced task forces.

If it was talking about his world back then, he was on top of it. Conquering it. But now, the world was on top of him. It was crushing him. Light didn't have any room to move, and he had nowhere to escape.

Rain started spattering down. He felt it first on his face, then his arms. Then on his shirt. Glancing up, he saw that he sky had grown completely dark and that the only light that could be seen was glinting through the orphanage windows, now far away.

"Fuck." He swore. But who was listening? The rain was starting to soak his hair.

If he stayed out here, would anyone find him? Could he just keep running... running... until there was no more "anymore".

"Ohh... interesting." Came a familiar voice.

Of course.

The damned Shinigami, death god, was listening.

"Where are we going now?"

Light almost spat. He hated that damn Shinigami more than he'd ever hated anything.

"This is your fault." Light replied bitterly. "Why don't you go harass some other human already?"

"Hm? But most of them are boring. You give me entertainment "

The Shinigami flapped it's dark wings, and smiled. Revealing teeth that were jagged and stained. Light had never gotten close enough, but he was sure that it's breath also smelt rotten.

"Midnight stroll?" It said.

"Shut up."

"But you know, I prefer to stay indoors. Rain can't hurt me, I just hate the way that it feels all damp and clammy on my skin."

"I said shut it!" Snapped Light. "When are you going to leave me alone now?"

"Well..." The Shinigami drawled. "That all depends."

"We had a deal. The deal was done. Now go fly off and - "

"What?" The Shinigami interrupted. "Go back to the Shinigami realm? There's nothing to do there, and hasn't been for at least a thousand years. Longer than I can remember anyway. And in no part of the deal did you say that after, I had to go away."

Gritting his teeth, Light took his hands from his knees and straightened.

"It's not like I expected a death god to follow me."

"Then," the Shinigami almost sneered. "You shouldn't have been so careless."

"I guess not..." Light agreed. At least that was something they could both agree on. "Ryuuk, I have a question for you."

"Hm? Alright. I'll answer it exchange for an apple."

"I'll give it to you later."

If apples were even served at the orphanage, Light thought. So far, he hadn't even seen any.

"Is it possible... for humans to see things in the way that a Shinigami sees?"

"Of course."

"...How?"

"It's another type of deal." Ryuuk smiled. "Want to know what that one costs?"

Glancing at him expectantly, Ryuuk raised a finger. "It costs a human half of their normal lifespan."

"Half?"

"Yes. Why? You wanna try it?"

"...No. I want you to go away and leave me alone."

* * *

**BB.**

B wasnt qualified to diagnose A from the kind of hallucinations or paranoia he was having. But that didnt stop him from doing it privately, and not caring anyway. A was his friend all the same.

_"Why would you lie about something that makes you sound crazy?"_ Those had been A's words to him. Because A had understood. Admitting to something that others would label as 'crazy' was a scary thing in itself. At least, B supposed that it was normally like for most people. Himself? He hadn't really cared. He always gave people the choice to take him or leave him. Love him or hate him. He supposed that was why most people left, and hated him.

At least, people used to. Even the last of his family who could have pssibly adopted him, rejected him.

B scribbled at a note. Wrong. The algorithm was still wrong. He didn't stop scribbling for a long time, and eventually, the ink and his pen tip tore through the paper.

And then, after he had made a large hole through several pages, he stopped. He stared at the notebook. He was trying to solve something illogical with logic. He couldn't have been wrong. Couldn't have been. There was no way that all the other deaths had just coincidentally fit into his algorythm - thousands of them - but somehow, Light's could break that theory.

As he brought the notebook up to his eyes, B wondered, had his theory about the algorithm been wrong, or had some reason, something exceptional, exempted Moon Gami from his theory?

B couldn't be certain.

He threw the notebook onto the floor, and glanced at his alarm clock as it rang. 7:30am. Breakfast would be served in thirty minutes.

B pulled on his jeans. He rummaged around for a comic. Couldn't find it. Got distracted by a Polaroid his father had taken of the Californian sunset. It's corner was creased. Dropped it. Decided instead to find his socks. Almost jumped when he turned around to find one of those nightmarish creatures staring at him.

_Just ignore it. Just ignore it._ He told himself.

This one didn't have bones that cracked. This one had grey skin, and long arms which hung awkwardly at the side of its gangly body.

It's yellow-red eyes were staring at him. Staring.

The creature started laughing.

"I see..." it said, voice rough but almost human. "So this is why he asked."

B kicked something on the floor. He didn't pay much attention to what it was.

When were these damned monsters going to leave him alone?!

"Can you see me...?" The creature asked curiously. It was grinning. Pointed teeth. A grin that was too wide for its face.

Ignore it. B kept repeating. It doesn't know it can see you, even if it can't see your name. The other one didn't know that too.

B finally found the comic. He picked it up, and started reading it. At least, he tried to. The words on the page made sense, but he couldn't focus.

"Oh," the creature mused. "That's right, you can only see the one who made the deal with you. Kyahaha."

It hovered into his room. Even if the creatures wings didn't move, it seem it could still fly somewhat. It sat on his floor and looked around at the mess.

"It seems not all humans are as clean as Light."

B's gaze snapped up.

"What did you just say?"

"Huh? Oh - you can hear me. Oops."

The creature almost looked sheepish. It's shoulders hunched over. Except the fascinated glint shining in its eyes have it away. This monster was having fun.

"...Light told me about you." B lied. An easy way to get more information. "But he didn't say why you were around him."

"Hm? Light told you?" The creature scratched its chin, confused. "Well, I guess that I never said that he couldn't. That wasn't in part of the deal, so I'll let that one pass."

"Deal?" Pressed B. "What deal?"

"Well... let's just say that is when a Shinigami tries to make a deal with a human, it's never in the human's favor." The creature laughed again.

"Shinigami?" B repeated.

"What, you didn't know what we are?"

"...No."

"What kind of human makes a deal with something, when he doesn't even know what it is?"

"I never made a deal." B snapped. He snapped his comic down too. "And I'm getting impatient, Shinigami. You keep dancing around the questions. So tell me, what deal did you make with Light? Because I can see the day that he was supposed to die. And he didn't."

"Whoa... I thought Light was kinda scary. Don't take offense to this, but you and this room kind of give me serial killer vibes."

B stared at the Shinigami, unblinking and unamused.

"If you're not going to answer me, death god, then get out before I start testing how to kill one of you."

For the first time, the Shinigami's grin faltered.

"Uh..."

"So there is a way to kill one of you?" B smirked. "Perfect."

The Shinigami flapped it's wings. It elevated into the air. Perhaps it had never received a death threat from a human before.

* * *

_\- L -_

L oddly found himself thinking about Light often. Maybe because he more often than not, was unable to find him or Light disappeared, and L could never figure out to where. But a part of him. A small part of him. Was beginning to realize that this might have been worry.

Odd. He didn't remember feeling worry about someone ever before. And although faint... very faint. There it was.


End file.
